I’m completely enamored with paintings of women lately, the more mysterious the better. Enter Clare Elsaesser and her beautiful ladies. Clare’s original paintings as well as giclée prints are available in her Etsy shop, each one just as full of expressive and textured brushstrokes as the last.

The biggest issue I faced when picking up and moving halfway across the country into my new home was that it was 114 years old. It doesn’t get much more traditional than this colonial beast, but when you fall in love with a space that’s the opposite of your aesthetic what’s there to do? I’m partnering with HP x360 #BendTheRules + Meghan Trainor’s That Bass Tour to talk it out and share four ways I’ve modernized my home.

Add Contemporary Art. This tip is first for a reason, and that’s because it adds the biggest dose of personality right off the bat. I’ve added pieces and prints of all shapes and sizes through my home, grouping the smaller together and leaving the oversized to stand on their own. One thing I abided by was sticking to the same frame style and color – simple and white. It helps to pull everything together and achieve the sleekness I was after.

Embrace Clean Lines. Furniture, light fixtures, all of it. I love how the simplicity of almost all of my dining room in particular is the polar opposite of the ornate banister on the stairway and the 10-inch moldings throughout the house. It allows you to appreciate what the space does best without competing with it, which should really be the end goal of every design decision you make.

Go Light and Bright. Before I moved in the moldings and framework were thankfully already painted white, but the walls were a buttercream yellow. Safe for staging, but not even a little bit my taste. So within two months I had painted the entire interior (you read that right, all of it) a lovely white-grey/grey-white. The natural light bounces throughout now, creating an almost gallery-like feel that makes every room feel bigger.

Use Modern Patterns. I like to keep my patterns in check by using them sparingly and choosing modern global repeats. It keeps things feeling fresh and contemporary while breaking up the monotony of large fields of color for your eye. I prefer to neutral tones, but that doesn’t mean you should shy away from color if that’s your aesthetic.

The HP x360 has four great things going on for it, too. Actually four modes – notebook/laptop, tablet, stand, and tent – in one device. I’ve especially loved using tent mode in the kitchen, it’s so convenient to have my favorite recipes at arm’s length while I make dinner. Its touchscreen properties also make the tablet mode perfect for flipping through my emails in bed first thing in the morning (bad habit, I know). The compact size and weight are perfect for carrying the x360 around the house from one room to another like I tend to do through the day. See all four modes here, along with more info on HP + Meghan Trainor’s That Bass Tour and episodes from the fan-generated documentary being created using the HP x360 Convertible PC.

This post sponsored by HP. Be sure to follow along with the Meghan Trainor tour by watching Behind The Scenes episodes or following @HP for updates. Thank you for supporting the brands that support Design Crush!

Since being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes last year (whomp whomp), food porn has become even more prevalent in my carb-counting lifestyle. Thankfully there are not only plenty of ways to adapt recipes (zucchini noodles and mashed cauliflower have become my favorites), there are also plenty of sites that create beautifully developed recipes that are photographed so well I can almost taste them through the screen of my laptop. Here are five that make my tastebuds daydream.

Hipsterfood is a vegan site run by couple Cara and Bob. Their ironically named site is full of sometimes healthy, sometimes decadent recipes that are made from “95% cheap, easy-to-find food, and 5% sort-of-pricey, specialty food.” I love how realistic and unpretentious these two are and look forward to the day when they write a cookbook.

Butterlust is the work of the witty and intelligent Katie, who runs her site kind of like a test kitchen. If something goes wrong you’ll know it because she’ll tell you, just like how she sometimes uses cake mix and is super messy in the kitchen. Honesty is always refreshing.

Lady and Pups is a self-proclaimed “angry food blog” of one woman and her move to Beijing three years ago. You see, she kind of hates it so she’s turning all of that frustration and angst into lovely meals. I’m totally down with that – some of the best creativity is born from situations we can’t control.

Seasons & Suppers is Jennifer’s cooking diary as she makes her way through the seasons Ontario, Canada. Seasonal and healthy, hearty and comforting, occasionally decadent recipes fill each post with a focus on taking advantage of what’s fresh and at its best.

My Name is Yeh follows the hilarious Molly through her adventurous in food and life. Most recipes are inspired by her Jewish and Asian roots, and now that she’s moved from Brooklyn to a farm in North Dakota there’s a bit of that as well. It seems she’s always on a adventure.

You should know by now that if you work with a palette that draws my attention you’ve already won half the battle. Jenny Andrews Anderson is no exception to that statement with colors that make me want to dive right into her perfectly balanced abstracts. I love that each one seems to have one unexpected element – a line through the center or a swipe of unexpected color.

While a good marbling project can be endlessly therapeutic, the end result often strikes me as too stuffy. Not so with The Adventures Of‘s latest paper goods collection – Marbles. Husband and wife team Benjamin and Amanda Denning have created a muted marbling that when paired with clean and modern lines yield an outcome that I’m not only on board with, but lusting after.

If at first glance you guessed you were looking at an abstract painting, we were both in the same boat. But Vancouver’s Sarah Symes uses cotton, silk, and netting to create these beautifully textured colorful landscapes instead. Doesn’t her ingenuity make you want to look at your art supplies in a totally different way?

Emily Counts’ Portland-based St. Eloy jewelry line is inspired by geological formations, medieval craftsmanship, and mid-century modernism. Cast bronze, silver, and porcelain pieces are at once sculptural, geometric, organic in form, while Emily’s more playful painted beads focus on line, contrast, and color. But that’s not the end of her talent, check out more of Emily Counts’ artistic skills at emilycounts.com.

For years Design Crush was my creative outlet, but recently I’ve realized how much I miss using my hands on something other than a keyboard. My mediums of choice are acrylic paints on canvas and a number 2 pencil with paper. I’m mediocre at best with both, but that’s not what art is always about. Flexing your creativity in one area of life can flow over into others in which you excel.

Artist Danny Gregory’s Art Before Breakfastencourages the reader to incorporate art making into their everyday life. Its pages are filled with strategy and inspiration, quick exercises, and practical instruction on carving time out for creativity for as little as ten minutes a day. Filled with incredible illustrations, it’s tough not to close the cover without feeling more inspired than when you opened it.